Clinical Policies

Introduction

Clinical course work allows students to apply the knowledge and skills obtained in the didactic component of the curriculum to real life experience in a clinical laboratory. The clinical courses are to provide students with clinical experience in and around the Metropolitan area hospitals and clinic laboratories. Students may also be provided with real or computer simulated learning activities.

Training students is very time consuming due to the nature of the training required at the bench. Training students slows down the work process in the department during the days that a student is on-site. Students should consider clinical training experiences to be a privilege not a right.

Students may be required to travel outside the Metropolitan area for some clinical rotations. Rotations on evenings, nights or weekends may be required. Non-traditional shifts may be created to accommodate the clinical sites. A list of clinical sites used for Phlebotomy rotations are list below:

• Minden Medical Center
• Barksdale AFB
• Overton Brooks VA Medical Center
• Ochsner LSUSHSC Medical Center
• Willis Knighton Health System
• Christus Schumpert Highland
• Desoto Regional Hospital
• Christus Coushatta Hospital
• Vivian Medical Center
• Minden Primary Physician

1. A student who passes Phlebotomy 101 but fails Phlebotomy 210 (grade less than 70%) will NOT receive a certificate of completion and will NOT be eligible to take the national certification examination
2. The successful completion of the Clinical Practicum course (PHLEB 210) is based on the following criteria:

1. Graded Student Evaluation submitted by the clinical Score must be 80% or higher.
2. Average of grades on weekly exam must be a 70% or higher
3. Perform a minimum of 152 clinical hours – LUNCH DOES NOT
4. Receive passing marks all shaded areas on the Competency Assessment
5. Submission of all required clinical
6. Perform a minimum of 150 successful venipunctures
7. Perform a minimum of 10 capillary punctures

Students will be held to the highest level of work ethics. Excellent attendance, reviewing of lecture notes, laboratory procedures, textbooks and attentiveness to instruction provided are high among the expectations. The ultimate goal of each rotation is that the student is able to do the basic work at the bench with minimum supervision in most areas, regardless of the time or location of the rotation.

Personal relationships with clinical personnel are strictly forbidden.

Clinical Placement

The Phlebotomy Program does not accept more students than it can place in clinical, but in the event that clinical placement(slots) are reduced due the student will be placed in rotation based on the following criteria: 

1. GPA
2. In the event of a tie (same GPA), then the following will be taken in consideration: attendance in the program, final exam score, or final lab practicum score.
3. Overall evaluation of the student by the faculty.

Service Work Policy

Phlebotomy Technician students are not expected to perform service work and are not allowed to take the place of qualified staff during any clinical rotation. After demonstrating proficiency, students, with qualified supervision, may be permitted to perform procedures. A clinical institution which employs a currently-enrolled Phlebotomy student as a laboratory assistant will schedule the student for work during non-instructional hours. These paid hours may not count as clinical time as the student is performing the duties of an employee not a student in training. A student may be sponsored by a clinical laboratory facility and receive payment for training hours as long as the student performs the training activities with qualified supervision and the student is not replacing qualified staff.